Trunk or case stay.



W. B. GOULD.

TRUNK OR CASE STAY.

APPLICATION FILED 00125, 1912.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

INVENTOR'. wllllam Bnfiuulril.

ATTORNEYS OTO-LITHOH WASHINGTON D,

-WILLIAM B. GOULD, OF SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

TRUNK OR CASE STAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

Application filed October 5, 1912. Serial No. 724,029.

To all 207mm it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. GoULo, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunk or Case Stays; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eXact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention has reference, generally, to improvements in trunk-stays for retaining the lid or cover of a trunk-body in its raised position; and, the present invention has for its main purpose to provide a novel and simply constructed trunk-stay, comprising a pair of pivotally connected staymembers or elements, one of which is pivoted upon the inner face of the end of the body of a trunk, case, or the like, and the other stay-member being pivotally secured upon the inner face of the corresponding end of the lid or cover, said stay-members or elements being made with reinforcing members pressed out of each member or element, so as to form upon one face of each member or element a raised portion and upon the opposite face of the member or element a correspondingly formed depression, and the one member or element being further provided with a lug or riblike portion, also pressed out of said member or element, which is adapted to snap or spring into a portion of the depression in the other stay-member or element, so as to maintain the two members or elements of the trunk-stay in their relative positions for holding the lid or cover of the trunk in its raised position.

The invention has for its further object to provide a trunk-stav in which the opening movements of the two stay-members are limited, so that while in the act of raising the lid or cover, the holding or engaging portions of the two stay-members or elements willnot be moved past each other and thereby render the device inoperative; and, the invention has for its further ob]ect to provide a stay-construction which will prevent the lateral motion or loose play of the two stay-members when in their opened or extended relations, and to provide a simple construction of trunk-stay made from comparatively thin metal, but at the same time having great strength and being rigid, so as to prevent the bending or collapsing of the operatively connected staymembers.

Other objects of the present invention will be clearly evident from the following detailed description of the said invention.

lVith the various objects of the present invention in view, the said invention consists, primarily, in the novel trunk-stay hereinafter set forth; and, the invention consists, furthermore, in the novel arrangements and combinations of the sevenl devices and parts, as well as in the details of the construction of the same, all of which will be more fully described in the following specification, and then finally embodied in the clauses of the claim which are appended to and which form an essential part of this specification.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a detail transverse sectional representation of a part of the body of a trunk and a portion of the lid or cover hinged thereto, with an elevation of a trunk-stay made according to and embodying the principles of the present invention, representing the various parts in their opened relation. Fig. 2 is a face view of the trunk-stay, said view being made on an enlarged scale, and showing the two staymembers in their opened or extended relation; Fig. 3 is a similar view of the same parts, but representing the stay-members in their closed relation; and Fig. i is a transverse section, taken on line 44 in said Fig. 2, said view being made on a still larger scale.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the said drawings, the reference character 1 indicates a portion of the one end of the body of a trunk, case, or similar article, and 2 indicates a portion of the usual lid or cover which is hinged thereto in the usual and well-known manner.

The trunk-stay is indicated by the reference-character 3, and the reference-numerals 4 and 5 represent a pair of stay-members 01' elements, which may be of any suitable length, width and thickness, and may be of any desired marginal configuration. The said stay-members or elements 1 and 5 are pivotally connected by means of a pivot-pin or rivet, as 6, so that the two members or elements have an oscillatory relation to each other, as will be clearly evident from an inspection of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, and for the purposes to be presently more fully specified. The two stay-members or elements 4 and 5 are also provided with suitably disposed reinforcing means in the form of longitudinally extending ribs or projections 8 which project from the one flat face of each member or element, and forming corresponding and longitudinally extending depressions or recesses, as 9, in the opposite flat faces of the said stay-members or elements 4 and 5.

At a suitable point beyond the pivotal connection of the two stay-members 1 and 5, and upon the surface formed with the depression or recess 9, the stay-member or element 4: is made with a short holding rib or projection 10 having an angular relation to the longitudinal central axis of the said stay-member 4;, and of a cross-sectional conformation which is substantially that shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, and its location being such, so that when the other staymember 5 is brought into its open or staying relation with the stay-member 4, the said short or holding rib or projection will spring into its holding relation with a portion of the upper longitudinally extending depression or recess 9 .of the stay-member 5, and whereby the two stay-members can be maintained in their separable or foldable open or extended relation, in a manner clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings.

In order that the pivotal opening movements will be properly limited, the staymember 4: maybe provided with a suitably formed projection, as .11, which is forced out of the face of said member 4, said projection 11 having a marginal straight edge 12, against which the marginal edge-portion 13 of the stay-member 5 is adapted to. be brought, as shown in the drawings and for the purposes just stated.

Near its free end-portion 1% the stay-member 4: is provided with a hole or perforation 15, for the usual fastening pivot or pin 16 for pivotally securing this end-portion 14 of the stay-member 1 to the lid or cover 2, in the manner represented in Fig. 1 of the drawings. In a like manner, near its free end-portion 17, the other stay-member 5 is provided with a hole or perforation 18, for a fastening pivot or pin 19 for pivotally securing this end-portion 17 of the staymember 5 to the body 1 of the trunk, as shown insaid Fig. 1.

I claim 1. A trunk or case-stay comprising a pair of pivotally connected stay-members, said stay-members being provided with longitudinally extending reinforcing ribs forced out of said members and extending from one face of eachmember and providing each member in its opposite face with corresponding longitudinally extending depressions, and means upon one of said stay-members adapted to be sprung into one of said longitudinally extending depressions in the other stay-member for retaining said stay-members in their opened and separable holding relation.

2. A trunk or case-stay comprising a pair of pivotally connected stay-members, said stay-members being provided with longitudinally extending reinforcing ribs forced out of said members and extending from one face of each member and providing each member in its opposite face with corresponding longitudinally extending depressions, means upon one of said stay-membersadapted to be sprung into one of said longitudinally extending depressions in the other stay-member for retaining said stay-members in their opened and separable holding relation, and a stop-projection upon the member which is provided with said holding means, with which the marginal edgeportion of the other stay-member is adapted to be brought into engagement to limit the pivotal movements of said stay-members.

3. A. trunk or case-stay comprising a pair of pivotally connected stay-members, said stay-members being provided with longitudinally extending reinforcing ribs forced out of said members and extending from one face of each member and providing each member in its opposite face with corresponding longitudinally extending depressions, and an angularly disposed rib-like projection pressed out of one of said stay-members adapted to be sprung into one of said longitudinally extending depressions in the other stay-member for retaining said stay-members in their opened and separable holding jection pressed out of one of said stay-members adapted to be sprung into one of said longitudinally extending depressions in the other stay-member for retaining said stay- ,members in their opened and separable holding relation, and a stop-pro ection pressed out of the member which is provided With set forth above I have hereunto set my hand said rib-like projection, with which the marthis 3rd. day of October, 1912.

ginal edge-portion of the other stay-member is adapted to be brought into engagement to WILLIAM GOULD limit the pivotal movements of said stay- Witnesses: members. FREDK. C. FRAENTZEL,

In testimony, that I claim the invention FREDK. H. W. FRAENTZEL.

Copies ot this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

